Georgia to Texas: journeyman HVAC technician license reciprocity

Texas has no journeyman HVAC license in the usual sense; the person-held credential for an employee who does air conditioning and refrigeration work is the Registered ACR Technician registration issued by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). Anyone who assists a licensed ACR contractor with non-exempt maintenance or repair work must register: the applicant must be at least 16, file a one-page application with a $20 fee and answer a criminal history questionnaire, and there is no exam, no experience requirement and no continuing education. The registration is valid one year and is renewed for $20. TDLR also offers a voluntary Certified ACR Technician credential for technicians with 24 months of supervised experience or a TDLR-approved 2,000-hour training program who pass a PSI exam ($50 application, $60 exam, renewed for $35); it is not required to work. Because the registration is not an examined license, an out-of-state journeyman or technician license has nothing to transfer to: every technician must register with TDLR regardless of licenses held elsewhere, and all work must be performed under a Texas-licensed ACR contractor. Technicians who handle refrigerants also need federal EPA Section 608 certification.

Georgia does not issue a journeyman HVAC, HVAC technician or installer license. The Construction Industry Licensing Board's Division of Conditioned Air Contractors licenses only conditioned air contractors (Class I Restricted and Class II Non-Restricted); the Board's licensing rules create master and journeyman licenses for plumbers (Rule 121-3-.02) but no journeyman category for conditioned air (Rule 121-3-.04), the reciprocity rule's list of licenses has no such credential, and neither the Board's home page, its how-to guide nor its FAQ offers any individual credential below contractor. HVAC technicians who are not contractors work as employees of a company whose qualifying licensee 'must be regularly connected with the business', with no personal state license. An out-of-state journeyman or technician license therefore has nothing to transfer to in Georgia and is neither required nor recognized for employment; the one place it helps is on the road to a contractor license, because the Board's application records employment under licensed employers (Georgia or otherwise) toward the four years (Class I) or five years (Class II) of lead-mechanic, service-technician and supervisory experience required under Rule 121-3-.04. EPA Section 608 certification (Type II or higher, as the Board requires of contractor applicants) is federal and applies to every technician handling refrigerants.